In the Shadows
by UnderElectricCandlelight
Summary: They had finally gotten her back, from Amaru and from Xibalba. But when it's time for Kate to get back to normal, it's much easier said than done.


This is the first thing I've written in quite a long time and the first for this fandom. Found it recently and typed it up, so hopefully this gets me back into the rhythm of writing again.

* * *

She pulled the blanket up higher under her chin, banging her elbow in the process. She was used to it by now, consequence of sleeping night after night in the bathtub.

Her room had a decent sized bed, pretty comfortable compared to the countless mattresses she'd occupied in hers and Seth's heyday of jumping from motel to motel. Except this time round her Gecko escort was next door, probably alone while his brother was out feeding, and Kate was left to herself in her own space.

But she hadn't spent more than an hour or two 'in her own space' since the first few days after their ordeal.

Since the moment Amaru left her body Kate had been running on adrenaline. She felt the overpowering need for revenge and justice, but above all else the adrenaline coursing through her system kept her moving forward. It wasn't until the group were looking to go their separate ways that the tiredness overcame her. It all suddenly hit like a brick wall, the exhaustion making her limbs feel heavy and fogging up her mind. She didn't really think clearly about her direction as she let her feet take her back towards the little church. It had been the birthplace of Amaru's returned body, and the sight of what should have been Kate's second death. Never the less, it was where the Gecko brothers found her sitting in one of the small pews.

"You not get enough of this place already?" smirked Seth. He gently sat next to her, his eyes fixed on her profile. This was the Seth she missed, when he was calm and caring – in his own way – the Seth she hadn't seen since they were planning heists and joking together on long drives.

"I heard him," she whispered, more to herself.

"What was that?" Seth pushed her red locks behind her ears. The action seemed to remind her she wasn't alone and turned to look at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" soothed Seth. The concern was evident as he brought his hands up to cup her cheeks.

"After… _she_ left, when _you_ were saving me," she smiled at him. "I heard my dad."

"What did he say?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just remember that his voice woke me up…"

Her face scrunched in confusion and she tried to think. Seth wrapped her up in a hug, not caring that her stray tears were slowly soaking through his shirt.

"Come on," he said against her forehead. "You're coming with us, ok?"

She didn't respond but took the hand he held out to her as they got up to leave.

"Ready to go?" called Richie from the doorway. "I think the longer we stay here, the more damage this creepy-as-fuck town will do to my artistic love of the Western genre."

"Oh, we wouldn't want that," teased Kate.

"You got that right."

She let go of Seth's hand to be immediately gathered up by the younger Gecko. "So what do you say," Richie began, making her pull back. "Feel like joining us? You spent all that time with Seth here, guess it's only fair you get to witness how the other Gecko operates on a more superior level during little heist sprees."

"Well," sighed Kate. "Considering I've been dead all this time, I guess I don't really have any immediate plans."

She heard Seth chuckle behind her, sensing the smirk on his face.

"Touché, Red," conceded Richie. He smoothed a hand down her burgundy hair and smiled. " Loving the look by the way."

She watched him turn to leave and pinched her eyes closed, a mix of relief and exhaustion, only opening them when Seth once again grabbed her hand and headed after his brother. At some point in their walk to the car their fingers interlocked, neither would be able to say who initiated the movement but both of them felt better for it.

They didn't say where they were headed, just that they planned to keep on driving until they found a place to stop. No one said much of anything else either, with Richie focusing hard on the road and Seth slouched in the passenger seat.

"Don't know about you but-"

"Hey, keep the volume down-" hushed Richie. "Kate's sleeping."

Seth turned and found sure enough, she was slumped against the door, her head on the glass and no doubt an aching neck in her near future.

"Only been driving twenty minutes, she must be exhausted," mused Seth.

"Nodded off about twelve minutes ago."

Seth raised an eyebrow in question.

"What?" said Richie in defence. "I heard her breathing even out, and her heartbeat slowed."

"So creepy," muttered Seth.

As silence once again filled the car Seth, acting as casually as possible, side-eyed the wing mirror to see Kate's face in peaceful sleep, her temple pressed against the window behind him. No matter how discrete he was trying to be, his brother couldn't miss his actions.

After a couple of hours of peace and silence they pulled up at a gas station, the slamming of Richie's door roused her as she saw him move to fill up the car.

"Welcome back Princess," said Seth.

"Where are we?" she mumbled, her voice made hoarse by drowsiness. She watched the back of his head whilst he focused intently on something across the forecourt. He turned round to lean into the backseat and gently touched her knee.

"Stay right here. I'll be right back." He waited until she nodded her understanding before leaving her alone in the car.

Rather than watch him she tried to wipe away the fuzziness from her vision, but when she pulled back her hands she froze. For a moment, just one moment, her hands were not smeared with the garish black makeup that had covered Amaru's eyes, but the dark, congealing blood of all those people killed by these hands. She blinked away the image but couldn't look away.

Seth opened her door, making her heart jump up into her throat.

"Come with me Princess." He crouched down to her eye-level and grasped her hand; Kate automatically followed him out towards the store.

A gaggle of college girls squealed and hooted a couple of feet away and Kate flinched as their truck roared to life. She felt Seth squeeze her hand as he pulled her a little closer towards him.

He led her through the store to the restrooms and handed her a small duffel bag she'd never even noticed before now.

"What… is this?" she asked, confused.

"Don't worry about it," smirked Seth. "Shit, those rich-bitch party girls didn't even realise it was gone."

Nearly 15 minutes later the Gecko duo was stood at the car waiting for Kate to emerge from the store.

"You think she might have crawled out the window?" teased Richie. Not for the first time that day Seth wanted to punch his brother. "Oh, no. Guess she decided against it."

Seth looked away from Richie's deadpan face to follow his line of sight. He'd travelled with her for months and seen her in various states of dress – not like that! God no. Being in such close quarters together, living with and around each other almost 24 hours a day, him being shirtless and her in a bikini just became a common thing. But he couldn't think of another time when she looked any better.

She'd managed to put together an outfit of shorts and a baggy t-shirt, with a zip-up hoodie and those cheap foamy flip-flops. Nothing special by any means, but as she walked towards them both men shared a feeling of unexpected relief. Like a knot loosening in their chests, only they didn't realise the knot was there in the first place.

She'd managed to scrub off Amaru's makeup, the thick black eyeliner she had worn as war paint, and braided the long red tresses away from her face. Seeing Kate look like Kate again made it feel real. It was all over and they'd really gotten her back.

They carried on driving into the night before Richie's moaning about craving horchata finally broke Seth's concentration and by dawn they agreed on a motel that didn't look like a breeding ground for the next plague.

"Did you see the mould in the office?" whinged Richie. "If they have it in that state there's no way I was gonna go in any of the motel rooms."

"What do you care?" countered Seth. " You're a fucking vampire."

"Standards, Seth," he carefully explained. "Standards count, no matter the species."

They got 2 rooms, side-by-side, giving Kate her own space. Not that Seth was exactly looking forward to sharing a room with his brother again.

"And you'll remember the horchata?" pestered Richie.

"Yes Richie," he hissed in annoyance. "I'll get you your damn horchata."

Richie moved to open the back door, where Kate had been lay curled up asleep since they left the gas station, and leaned in to lift her.

"Whoa, hold on." Seth rounded the car and moved Richie out of the way. "Sunny today. Don't want you turning into barbecue snake, go open the doors and get inside." With some careful manoeuvring, which involved the muttering of more than a couple choice words and banging his shoulder on the car door leading to yet more colourful language, he was able to lift her from the car.

Richie was already sat on the double bed when he got her inside, her head resting against his shoulder and her hair tickling his neck.

"Careful setting her down," fussed Richie. "Watch her head-"

"Jesus, I got it. Got her in here just fine, really think the mattress is going to hurt her?"

"So…"

Seth waited for him to continue but he stayed silent, eyes trained on Kate's slumbering form on the bed.

"So, what?" prompted Seth.

"Horchata."

Seth closed his eyes and pinched his nose.

"We agreed rooms, then horchata," clarified Richie.

"Yes, we did," sighed Seth. "But I am _so_ fucking _tired_ right now. I am going to get you your shitty horchata, and _just this once_ I will resist the urge to smack you in the head and not repeat, for the millionth time, our conversation about timing. You understand me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good. I won't be gone long. Anything happens, call me. Richie?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Seth went back to the diner they'd passed on the drive in, persuading himself that Kate would be fine. _Is_ fine. She was back, back at the motel with Richie, who Seth knew would look after her just fine. He told himself he was overreacting, but his mind still insisted on going over and over it.

He felt better about it by the time he got back to the room, and calmer just knowing he was back to keep an eye on the _situation_ – aka Kate.

For a solid 5 minutes after he was left alone with her, Richie stood by her side and listened. With his legs pressed up against the side of the bed he was barely an inch away from grasping her hand but he just revelled in the sound of her heart beating, and the soft murmurs of breath as she slept.

When he had seen her standing in the haze he knew he was really in hell. His mind been in it's own personal torture for months, of course Xibalba would forever taunt him with the image of the girl who'd haunted his dreams. But the relief he felt when he finally realised she wasn't just a vision was short lived. He had to get her out of there, they _both_ had to, and they did – together.

He was washing his face in the stained bathroom sink and contemplating the irony of breathing a sigh of relief when you didn't actually _need_ to breathe, when Seth returned. They sat at the creaky table to eat their greasy food – Kate's left untouched as she slept through the meal like a rock. With her audience of two.

Richie was tapping his fingers against his thigh and hardly blinking as he seemed to blankly stare into nothing. "You need to go out, just go. Seriously Richie. Not only are you getting on my last nerve, but a hungry vampire in the room of a sleeping teenage girl? Little too cliché don't you think?"

Richie finally turned to look at him with a stern glare.

"First off, I doubt your vampire references come from the respectable literary classic 'Dracula'. Now 'Twilight', I could believe," he deadpanned. "Secondly, I don't need you trying to advise me on my culinary requirements."

"Oh. So, you _don't_ need to feed right now?"

With a huff Richie stood and grabbed his jacket, but stopped short at the door.

"Just go feed off a drunk or some other unlucky fuck, I don't want to know the details. We'll both be here when you get back."

He still looked torn but Seth's words must have done the trick, or his hunger won out, because he left and returned an hour later looking a lot less agitated. That first night continued with much of the same, with quick trips to their own room for showers and phone calls, neither wanting to stay away from Kate for too long, anticipating when she'd wake up.

In the end, she slept through 60 hours and 2 Western movie marathons. Movies that Richie later made Kate promise they'd watch again together.

Both Geckos had been intent on Kate not waking up alone, but of course with their luck – or lack there of – Richie was sleeping through the day next door when Seth finished his phone call outside to find an empty bed and a closed bathroom door.

"What? What is it?" Kate's worried face appeared, opening the door to Seth's frenzied pounding.

"Jesus," he gasped. "Turn my back for just one minute…"

She smiled at his over-protectiveness. During their time together in Mexico she'd always poked fun at him for it, how cute he was. Although he would insist every time that big bad Geckos didn't 'do cute'.

"What's the big deal?" she stepped forward to wrap her arms around his waist, feeling his warm hands on her back. "I was just sleeping."

"Yeah, for over two days Princess."

"What?!" Kate exclaimed, pulling her head back to look up at him with a cheeky smile. "Well, I guess that explains why I needed to pee so bad."

"Well, now that _that _basic need has been taken care of," chuckled Seth, flinching as she pinched his arm. "How about we sort out another one and get you some food."

The nocturnal Gecko joined them shortly after sundown. Richie walked in to find the pair lounging on the bed and watching some horror B-movie. Judging from the vast number of half-empty food containers on every available surface, it seemed Kate had been awake for a while.

"You didn't think to come wake me?" his eyebrows raised above his glasses, a classic 'Richie-sign' that he was on the cusp of a meltdown.

"I told Seth to let you rest," Kate tried to soothe. "He was going to wake you up but then he told me how cranky you get without your sleep, so…"

He was closer to cracking. "And I got you pancakes and horchata," she smiled.

It obviously worked because he soon joined them in the bingeing – movies and food.

"Hold up," Seth spoke up. "Are you telling me, _I paid_ for the damn horchata, that _you_ asked for," poking Kate in the side," just for Count Dracula over there?"

"First of all, you yourself said how much Richie likes pancakes. It was only polite to order food for him too," explained Kate.

"Thank-you Kate," interjected Richie. Seth raised an eyebrow at their obvious show of politeness, deciding they'd team up against him.

"And secondly," concluded Kate. "This afternoon I watched you pig down 2 orders of ribs. You have no leg to stand on. Now where are those sour worms?"

Lucky for Seth he had gotten used to her sass – and eating habits – during their time in Mexico. But Richie was not quite so familiar. The three of them spent the night watching movies and blocking out the outside world, just for a few more hours. Eventually Seth slid down into the bed, lying on his stomach with his arm slung over her lap and his face snoring into her hip. On her other side was her very much awake companion.

"Something you want to tell me?" questioned Richie. Kate looked up at him in confusion. "It seems maybe you and my brother over there got a little closer on your Mexican honeymoon than you've been letting on."

Richie had been providing a running commentary through every movie. She reached her free hand over to pinch his arm, not wanting to break their contact where they had been lazily tracing each other's fingers. She quickly picked up on how to squeeze his hand when he had that far-away look, those moments when he's become trapped in his mind. A comforting touch seemed to bring him back to the present.

"There was never anything like that between us," clarified Kate. "And you know that."

"Mmm," he hummed. Seth's arm squeezed her legs in his sleep, both of them noticing the action. "Seth always was, let's say, _forthcoming_, when it came to physical interactions with the opposite sex. But I expected better from the preacher's daughter, Katie-cakes.

If it weren't for the teasing tone of his voice, she would have punched his arm a lot harder. They both let that be the end of the subject, and easily returned to the comfort of spending time together without having to think about anything else.

Her relationship with the brothers just felt natural, for all of them. During the day Kate would spend her time floating in the dingy motel pool and getting take-out with Seth, by night Richie would continue her movie education and share stories about the infamous Gecko jobs and heists, and the occasional embarrassing Seth anecdote.

On day five of living in their little bubble Richie told them about business that needed taking care of. Kate sat listening to them talking about where they needed to go and who to talk to, before going back to Jacknife Jed's. She excused herself to take a shower, trying to avoid the inevitable. None of them had discussed what came after this. She'd talked to Scott one night and he invited her to stay with him, but all she could think to do was avoid his questions and focus her mind on the here and now; in a motel in the middle of nowhere, where she wasn't having her body controlled by the Queen of Hell.

But now she considered maybe going back to Bethel. She could sell the house, get an apartment, maybe go to college. She applied weeks before they left for Mexico, but then she would really need to re-apply to them all again by now.

"Can't you do that in your own room?" As she left he bathroom Kate was greeted by the sight of her bed covered in gun parts and ammunition – and Seth.

"Richie's on the phone in there," he mumbled. "And sorting out the bags so, you better get packing." When she made no effort to move or speak he finally looked up at her. It was when he noticed her biting her lower lip and avoiding looking at him that Seth became bothered. "Something you want to share Princess?"

"I was thinking about home… back in Bethel." She hesitated, taking in his response – but there was nothing. "I just can't go back to living there, trying to pretend I'm the same person I was. So I was thinking I should sell it, Scott agreed when I talked to him last night."

"And then what?" asked Seth. She looked away again, but she could still feel the weight of his stare.

"I don't really know," she confessed, a hint of emotion in her voice. "I was dead." Her confused statement made Seth flinch. "And then, I wasn't anymore."

Seth stood and wiped the stray tears that had fallen, cradling her head in an effort to get her to look at him. He quickly pushed away the memory of when they were last in this position; during their semi-successful exorcism and she muttered those words that tore into his heart. _I don't forgive you_.

"Except you're here, now." His words were firm. "She's gone."

"But I might as well have been dead for all those months. I had no control of anything, even my own body, having to watch _her_ cause so much pain and destruction wherever she went. And now I just… go back to normal? Whatever that is - or was – I don't fit there anymore."

"That's why you're here with us, me and Richie. Ok?" She looked away again. "You're not getting rid of us easily Princess. Remember our deal; if you want to walk away I'm not going to stop you, I'm not going to hold you against your will. Again."

He continued when he saw a hint of a smile. "But we're still partners. For as long as _you_ want."

"You think we'd be here with you now if we didn't want to be?" Richie's vice spoke up from the doorway having silently arrived. "Hate to break it to you Katie-cakes but no-one can _make_ a Gecko do something… mostly. Well in fact that has been a debateable point as of recently."

Kate and Seth waited somewhat patiently as he rambled off, one of his 'quirks' as Kate had kindly labelled them. "But the Geckos are back in business, and you, dear Kate, are part of the package."

Kate looked between them. There was bound to be psychologists out there who would argue Stockholm Syndrome was at play here, but she couldn't imagine where she would go or what she'd do if she left here by herself, the mere thought of it feeling wrong.

"What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

They left bright and early, Seth behind the wheel and his brother trying to avoid direct sunlight in the backseat. Leaving Kate in charge of the music. After their somewhat awkward conversation the night before, they naturally went about their usual routine. Admittedly there were a couple of hiccups, namely when Richie volunteered to help Kate pack what clothes she'd managed to buy/steal, resulting in Seth's threat to shoot him in the head for edging a little too close to Kate's underwear drawer.

"You know it was only because you were jealous."

"Richie," sighed Seth. "It's late, I'm tired. Please don't decide to make now the time to start with all your riddle bullshit again."

They'd been in comfortable silence for a while after Kate had fallen asleep, until Richie suddenly spoke up.

"Kate," Richie half-clarified.

"What about her?" Seth asked cautiously.

He turned his gaze to where she'd fallen asleep next to Seth. "I acknowledge the fact that I'm not always the most perceptive of people." Richie paused at his brother's sigh. "However even I can see the bond between the two of you."

"Stopping the end of the world will do that to you."

"No, I think you're forgetting that _I_ was the one to tell you about her death," he swallowed harshly as he remembered the night. "I was there, with you, after…" They both tried not to think about how Kate's life had been so brutally taken away.

He stood from the table and made his way to the door. "Maybe saving the world can be classed as a 'bonding experience'. Bit if I'd seen you look at Scott the way you look at Kate, we'd be having a very different kind of discussion right now."

After he'd left them alone, Seth mulled over his brother's words. He wouldn't deny how he felt protective of her. Kate and her family were innocent bystanders, dragged into this by a couple of selfish criminals. The least he could do was try and protect her from the fucked up situation _he_ put her in, before and after the Twister. Yet nothing had changed, she was still living her life with a couple of thieving, dangerous felons. So, yeah, maybe creating some space would be a good thing. It would probably be for the best if Kate realised on her own she could do so much better.

All three of them knew that things would be a little different here – at the last place business was kept to a minimum and they were able to live in some sort of delusional normality. However this was more like a pit-stop before winding up back at the bar, solely for taking care of whatever business the guys needed to do that they wouldn't share with Kate; "It's all part of the Gecko empire" Richie would wink at her.

Thus the new sleeping arrangement. Yes, Kate had her own room before, but she'd gotten used to having someone there at night, if not both of them. Now she was able to see how she coped without them.

The first night started out ok, until Kate woke up sweating and screaming from the most vivid nightmare she'd ever had. She spent the rest of the night watching TV, which is what she did the night after, and the night after that.

When Richie knocked on her door asking about her absence recently, she had the quick thinking to blame it on 'women's problems'. No matter the guy – from your everyday Joe to a blood-sucking culebra – it was always a sure fire way for them to drop the subject.

She let herself wallow in her disappointment for all of 90 seconds, that it wasn't Seth trying to talk to her, before her mind was once again swallowed up by anxiety. The sound from the TV just couldn't drown out _her_ voice, and even with the crappy dim lights on Kate could almost sense her in the shadows as she lay with her eyes closed.

It was only by pure chance that she figured out how she could actually get some sleep. She could only one summon the courage to try knocking at the brothers' door, but when she got no answer she found herself promptly locked back inside her own room. Stood in front of the bathroom's tiny mirror, hands leaning on the cracked porcelain sink and avoiding looking at the tired reflection, before allowing her body to just fold in on it until she was curled up in the corner. This was how she woke up at almost noon – aching with a stiff neck – but never the less having had the most sleep in days. The walls had more cracks than tiles, lining a suite that looked like it had seen better days. But in here there were no feelings of claustrophobia, and most importantly, no dark corners. It was just bright and silent, especially with the door firmly shut, and the only place she could feel truly alone at night.

Kate's travelling partners were going about their own business at night. Richie was headed back to the room when he took the opportunity to check in on her. He'd been so busy coming in at sunrise that their paths hadn't really crossed, so he chose now to take a casual glance as he passed, expecting to see her asleep at this hour. When he saw her bed still made, no lamps or TV on, he stopped dead in his tracks and his train of thought faltered – a rare occurrence in his busy mind.

Seth wasn't in their room when he checked; maybe Kate was with him?

But he just couldn't let it go that easily, especially when he picked up the heartbeat from outside her room. It was relaxed and steady – sleeping – but he couldn't see her and he could only reach Seth's voicemail when he tried calling. That's how he came to be picking the lock at 3am whilst cursing himself for not thinking to buy her a phone sooner. And of course it took all of about 4 seconds once he entered the room for Richie to see the light from under the bathroom door.

Even as he barged in to see her in her cocoon of blankets and pillows Kate never stirred, having finally reached that point that happened every night when she succumbed to the exhaustion for just a few hours. She seemed peaceful but he could see the faint purple shadows starting under her eyes and she never even flinched when he moved the blanket around to lift her.

Without a glance towards her bed he automatically marched through to next door and carefully made her comfortable, his brain swimming with questions. It took another hour for them to be found.

"What the fuck Richie?" Seth had left an empty room, only to come back to find not only one but two people. And one of them was Kate, tucked into his brother's side. On his brother's bed.

"You mind keeping the noise down," hissed Richie. But Kate never even twitched at the loud intrusion.

"Please tell me you did not eyeball-control her," Seth asked in a voice obvious to anyone he was trying to keep calm and under control.

Without a verbal acknowledgement of Seth's question Richie, very carefully, rose from the bed and motioned for his brother to follow him out of the room.

"Don't." He used the slight height difference to his advantage as he loomed over Seth. "Don't use _your_ insecurities to lash out."

"Hey! I walk in to find the two of you looking pretty cosy, and she's so out of it her brother's lame band could be blasting their shit in here and it wouldn't have woke her!"

"See? Insecurities." Seth had always known how to handle his brother, but God did he hate when Richie got that smart-ass 'I see what's really going on but I'm not going to tell you' look.

"You can control minds," spat Seth. "But I can't fucking read them Richie. Talk."

"What aggravates you more here? That you walk in to see Kate _sleeping_ on my bed, or that she's sleeping on anyone's bed but yours?"

"Jesus Richie! You're trying to lay all this shit on me? I come back from the bar to find-"

"Exactly Seth," Richie interrupted. "You were too pre-occupied with drinking away your emotions to see what was going on here."

"And what exactly was that Richie? We're here for business and you're busy taking the opportunity to-"

"Don't!" He cut in again, finally feeling his calmness slip. "Don't go hiding behind the 'business' excuse when you're obviously spending you're nights getting loaded at that shit-awful bar, trying to keep your mind of the very _un_-business in there." Richie didn't so much point towards the room as he did stab his finger through the air in its direction. "Your mind is on anything but business right now, and you're too pre-occupied with running away from those thoughts to even see the cause of them is clearly not doing good."

"Your fucking riddles again? I thought you were done with this shit," sighed Seth, starting to feel irritated more than angry. "Just spit it out."

"You were throwing yourself a pathetic pity-party while Kate was left here alone! She's not doing good."

"Did she tell you that?" asked Seth, a feeling of unease suddenly hitting him in the stomach.

"She didn't have to," sighed Richie. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he painfully recounted what happened. "I found her… she was sleeping in the bathroom Seth. In the fucking bathtub! She's weak and exhausted. I carried her through and she never woke once."

Seth was stunned into silence, until Richie once again looked down at him. "She was alone." His tone was level but Seth knew the stern expression. "Something is wrong, and you weren't here."

"You weren't exactly BFF of the year yourself! Tell me something Richie, did you ever check on her when you were here during the day? I'm guessing the answer is no, considering you need your beauty sleep. And I'm pretty certain you haven't had her tag along your unconventional after hours activities."

"At least I wasn't purposely avoiding her."

Once again Seth had no response. How could he have one when he was finally being confronted with facts he'd been actively trying to avoid facing.

She could hear running water as she finally started to come to. The rhythm of the shitty water pressure and droplets hitting the plastic. It took a minute for Kate's groggy mind to comprehend the feeling of a mattress underneath her, plus most obviously how she wasn't getting wet from the shower in question. When she did open her eyes it was easy to recognise the suit jackets and two beds as being the guys' room. The flimsy curtains were pulled closed but she could recognise the dim daylight outside.

"See something you like?" Richie emerged from the bathroom through a cloud of steam, relaxed in sweatpants.

"Did anyone ever tell you, you have a very high opinion of yourself?" grumbled Kate, closing her eyes and stretching.

"It's been mentioned by some people," he said light-hearted, coming to sit on the bed. "But who even listens to shrinks?"

"Funny," she deadpanned.

There was a long moment before Richie spoke again. "Are you going to ask how you ended up in here?"

"Considered it." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "But then I figured it would lead to you asking about where you found me."

"I remembered what my dad said." She mumbled, moving to sit next to him. "That he had faith in you and Seth, to look out for me."

"He had two thieves take you all hostage to drive across the border," he said in amusement. "Not knowing what was going to happen, let alone being attacked by culebras, and he had faith in us?"

"No, not back at the Twister. After… _she_ left. I heard my dad, but back when I woke up – when Scott and Seth woke me up – I couldn't remember what he said to me."

"I know I'm a highly intelligent individual but even I can't see how this explains last night."

"Again with the inflated ego?" sniggered Kate. "I couldn't sleep ever since we got here. Every time I closed my eyes I could practically feel Amaru everywhere."

She explained everything. The feelings of suffocation, the anxiety and exhaustion, all leading up to last night. When she was done he gathered her up in his arms, tucking her head under his chin and cocooning her. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, maybe ten, before Richie felt her head turn to look at the bed opposite them.

"He didn't sleep here last night," he answered her unspoken question. "You don't have to worry about it right now."

"Please don't be mad at him," sniffed Kate. She couldn't see his face but she could feel him tense up beneath her. "I chose not to tell you both, it's my problem."

"Nightmares and voices, they're nothing to be ashamed of," he quietly replied.

"No." she squeezed him just a little tighter. "But yours weren't caused by a demon Richie."

As much as she tried to ignore it, finally telling someone did do something. It wasn't much, not something precise that Kate could put her finger on, but _something_ good. Like she could breathe just that little bit easier. But it didn't settle her feelings when she returned to her room. She went through the motions of showering and changing, too pre-occupied with debating whether to go spend some time with Scott for a while, that she could easily have missed the knocking on her door if it hadn't been so persistent.

Seth took the door opening as an invitation to barge through, turning to see a startled Kate stood in the doorway.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Come in."

"Sorry about that." He pinched his nose as he paced back and forth, working up the courage to talk to her.

"Did you talk to Richie?" Kate asked, warily.

"Yeah." Seth finally stood still. "Well, no. Shit. What the fuck is happening Kate?"

His brows furrowed in confusion, his voice almost pleading, but she was just as nervous about telling him as if he'd yelled at her in anger.

"I've not told Richie yet," she started. "But I was thinking about visiting Scott for a little bit. While the both of you are so busy, then maybe I can see you again back at Jed's."

"That's it?" This time he wasn't quite so calm. "Jesus fucking Christ, Kate. You can tell my emotionally-stinted brother what's wrong but not me?" He hurriedly carried on before she could answer. "Wait. Did he _make_ you talk?"

"No, no! He would _never_ use his ability on me like that. I trust him not to."

"But you didn't trust me."

"Why would you say that?" she asked, confused and hurt.

"It's obvious right?" He took a step closer to her as he locked eyes with her. "You told Richie everything. By the way you're acting it's pretty clear you're trying to avoid the subject now. So what is it, huh? I know from the moment he found you by the side of that pool that the two of you had some weird unspoken bond."

Their time together during their 'Mexican Honeymoon' had been fraught with conflict but it had taught her a lot about Seth, and right now Kate could hear the vulnerability straining his voice behind the show of anger.

"My friendship with Richie has nothing to do with this! The reason he knows, that _you_ know anything is wrong, is because he broke into my room."

"Never did understand boundaries," he muttered, rubbing his hand over his face and taking a seat on the bed. "Wait. You weren't planning on telling us at all, were you?" Kate's silence spoke volumes. "If Richie hadn't been Richie and did what he did, you wouldn't have said anything?"

"No." Seth raised a questioning eyebrow at her honesty. "When I chose to join the two of you back in that church, I knew things had changed." Seth's loud snort interrupted her explanation.

"Before you start being a smartass," she smiled lightly. "I mean things had changed between us. It's not just the two of us anymore, stuck in Mexico, neither of us having a clue what we're doing. You and Richie are occupied taking care of business every night and I'm not going to start pestering you. I can take care of myself."

"You're right, I know you can," he sighed, anxiously chewing on his bottom lip. "But I fucked up, and it's not something I can just forget. You know the saddest part about Mexico? You hacked a culebra bitch with a chainsaw, fought your way out of there, _you_ carried on searching for your brother. What did I do? I coped by becoming a useless piece of shit who couldn't go a day without shooting up and dumped you by the side of the road. And got you killed."

"That is _not_ what happened!"

"Who are you trying to kid-"

"The one thing driving me was Scott," she interrupted. "Whether you were going to help me or not. And you weren't there that night. Carlos was."

"What happened to _I don't forgive you_?" he cautiously asked.

"Do you really think that after everything we've been through I would still feel that way? Maybe I did fight her, in more ways than one. But you fought for _me_." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "From the beginning you looked out for me, hostage or not. And when Scott left and I… with my dad gone, you were all I had."

She took a few steps closer while she debated how to word her thoughts. But she didn't get the chance to say it when Seth took advantage of her proximity and wrapped his large arms around her middle, his forehead coming to rest against her stomach.

He felt her hands weave through his hair. "She knew you were too strong Kate. You were the one who took her down."

"And now I can't even close my eyes without her being there."

She explained everything that had been happening, never holding back, feeling emotionally drained for the second time that day.

"Why didn't you tell us?" They'd ended up sat side by side, her hand clasped tightly between his.

"These past few months have disrupted everyone's lives. You're getting back on track with Richie, and the business, I'm not going to be a burden now."

"Shit," he hissed to himself, standing up and once again pacing the room. "Burden? The Xibalban Queen Bitch is haunting you, and you don't want to bother anyone? How the hell have you spent this much time around demons and a couple of criminal fuck-ups and still sound like the good preacher's daughter?"

Kate simply watched in silence, not wanting to disrupt his venting.

"Chirst! You should have left already! Moved as quick as possible and left us in the dust-"

"You said we were in this together," she interjected. Her words finally stopped him from wearing through the carpet beneath his feet. "You said you wouldn't tell me to leave, that you wouldn't leave me."

"No, I won't. But don't you get it?" His frustration was finally getting the better of him. "That was your out Kate. I was giving you space, a chance for you to see that you deserve better than this."

She was wary of her response. "Better than this, or better than _you_?"

"What's the difference?"

"Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you are Seth Gecko?" She resisted the urge to stomp her feet as she rose from the bed. "Since I met you my life has been turned completely and permanently upside down, I ended up dead and possessed, my brother is a vampire. And yet I chose to go with the 'criminal fuck-ups' who started all of it."

Seth started shaking his head, but she cut him off before he could even start talking again. "I know you tried to protect me from the moment we met; Stick with me and you'll make it through without any bumps or scrapes. You're my family and my partner in everything we've done, and I'm capable of taking care of myself. But I don't want to move forward from everything on my own. You have to stop second-guessing my-"

In two short steps Seth closed the gap between them and abruptly cut off Kate's rant, leaning down to halt her lips beneath his own. Before she could realise what was happening it was over, and she momentarily forgot everything she was saying.

"If I knew that was how to stop you talking I'd have done it back in Mexico." She narrowed her eyes at the smirk growing on that smug face.

"I know you've always been a man of action," she replied condescendingly, resisting the urge to smack him in the arm. "But can you please use your words right now."

"That, right there," explained a smiling Seth, pointing at her confused face. "Kate, I'll never understand how you're both the sweet, small-town preacher's daughter, and the sarcastic live-wire. The girl who once admitted her greatest moment of rebellion was kissing a guy in church, ended up skipping from motel to motel in Mexico – with an ex-convict – pulling jobs and hunting vampires. _And_ still prayed!"

Looking up at his amused smile started the butterflies swarming in her stomach as he continued.

"Jesus! Everything you've been through, I don't think anyone would blame you for being a little selfish. But Lord knows, you still put Richie and me first. Do you know you're the first girl to have Richie wrapped round her finger? And not in a creepy vampire snake-queen way. And that's what scares me." He slid his hands up to cup her face. "Every female in my life who didn't argue with him 24/7 were either busy trying to undermine him or persuade me to leave. Or use the both of us to run off with all the cash." The small redhead's raised eyebrows didn't go unnoticed. "That story is definitely for another time. I know how cliché it sounds, but I've never met anyone like you, and I have no idea how to handle whatever_, this_, is."

"Seth, you keep talking about being a criminal and being selfish. But believe it or not, this whole Amaru thing has actually taught me a few things. About you." It was Seth's turn to raise a questioning eyebrow, pulling a slight giggle from Kate. "For a while I had my suspicions, but when Amaru looked inside your soul I could _feel_ all these emotions. You hide behind your bank-robbing, crime Lord front. We both know you're most comfortable when you're in control, when you know what everyone's doing and where everything stands. Emotions complicate that."

"Guess Amaru did more digging in here than I thought," he said gesturing to his head.

"Oh no, that last part was all me." She offered him an amused smile. "Your poker face isn't nearly as good as you think Mr Gecko."

Seth smirked as she stepped impossibly closer to him.

"When it was all happening she kept telling me over and over that you were just helping me to ease your guilt. I never believed her. I knew that when you called me partner, all that time ago, you meant it."

Their hands found each other, fingers entwined.

"When you held back and let me walk through into hell, that was the moment I really knew that you trusted me. That you saw me as an adult and not some teenage girl you felt obligated to protect. You need to keep thinking that way and trust me now, when I say that your notion of not being good for me is just pure bullshit. And as far as-"

Once again Seth cut her off as he lunged forward and met her lips with such force that she found herself grabbing at his forearm for support.

"You know, that's not always going to work."

Seth tried to give his best innocent face.

"You can't just kiss me every time you want to interrupt me," she smiled.

"Probably not," he agreed. "But does that mean you want me to stop trying?"

Richie didn't question the decision to move on to Jed's the following day. To be fair he wasn't given much of an option when Seth marched back into their room and told him they were leaving, but then he wouldn't have objected anyway if he'd been given the chance.

They loaded the car and got back on the road without a word from anyone about the night before. In fact Richie was almost surprised at how relaxed the two were; Kate in the back seat, casually watching the scenery pass by, and Seth behind the wheel trying not to smile to himself. The slight muscle twitch in his cheek really gave it away, a tick Richie hadn't seen since they were kids and they'd been smoothing out their early grifting techniques.

"Are we going to be stopping any time soon?"  
"I'm sorry to remind you, dear Kate," replied Richie. "But one of us will fry to a crisp in this sun."

"Oh Richie," sighed Kate, leaning forward dramatically to catch his eye. "How could we forget when you remind us every chance you can?" That didn't fail to make the brothers smirk. "But that means that some of us are only human, and one of those humans is going to have to pee before it becomes urgent."

Richie chuckled. "We'll find somewhere soon Princess," chimed in Seth.

It didn't take long to find a garage in the next town – thankfully a covered one so a certain passenger could step out from behind the car's tinted glass.

"I hate deja vu," grumbled Seth. The two of them were leaning against the car, waiting on Kate. "Shouldn't you be having it seeing as you have the whole psychic eyeball-hand thing?"

"Actually deja vu is a neurological anomaly. It's believed that electrical discharge in the brain making the person think that what they are experiencing in the moment is so familiar that it has already happened to them, when in fact it is a mini seizure."

"You done?" asked Seth. "You got it all out?"

Richie simply furrowed his brow in puzzlement.

"Good. Because we still have a while to drive yet and I swear, I will fucking throw you from the moving car if I have to listen to your tedious explanations."

"And here's me thinking you'd be in a good mood today," commented Richie.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't have to have a 'psychic eyeball-hand thing' to know you didn't sleep in your bed last night," he smirked.

"Look," Seth sighed as he pointed at him. "Don't you fucking dare start insinuating-"

"Calm down Casanova. You might be a man-slut but we both know Kate has more class than that." Seth snorted softly. "And morals," Richie added.

"You do realise," Seth countered with a chuckle. "You're the one who literally died and sold his soul as an in with the snake queen?"

"You really need further education on all things culebra," he said matter-of-factly.

"I think after all this bullshit we need a break from vampire interactions." He turned to look at Richie, before quickly adding, "Except you, obviously. No offense."

"None taken," assured Richie sarcastically. "Although if you're not careful you could end up with a couple of vampires on your case."

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you really think that Scott won't mess with you if you hurt his sister?"

"And I'm guessing you'd be the second vampire in this scenario?"

"Of course."

"I'm your own brother!"

"True. But I still prefer Kate."

"So this is where you give me the whole _you-hurt-her-I-hurt-you_ speech, I'm guessing."

"Actually," countered Richie, offering a shit-eating grin. "I was going to ask if you need one room or two when we get back. But your idea sounds better."

"And I'm about to push you into the daylight," Seth deadpanned.

"You've been threatening me with that too often," he informed Seth. "It just doesn't hold any weight anymore. Besides, Red's on her way back over here and I don't think she's appreciate you trying to kill her favourite Gecko."

Sure enough Kate was heading towards them, her head down as she focused on opening a mega-size bag of gummy bears before stopping in front of them.

"What?" Kate lifter her head to see them both ginning at her, and now they weren't answering. "Dorks."

They waited until she was once again in the car before moving to join her.

"Hey." Richie looked up from the driver's side. "What did you mean, you were Kate's favourite?"

"She kissed me first."

"Why would you bring that up now?" Seth asked across the car roof, muttering to himself as he watched Richie disappear from view. "Unbelievable."


End file.
